Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Raised to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Several other research firms also recently commented on NOC. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Barclays raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $553.27.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock traded down $0.19 during trading on Friday, reaching $467.82. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 624,518 shares, compared to its average volume of 611,409. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $490.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $490.95. Northrop Grumman has a 1-year low of $418.60 and a 1-year high of $555.57. The company has a market cap of $68.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. The business had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.18 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $286,183.41. This trade represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 1,255 shares of company stock valued at $666,461 in the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 245.5% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense technology company in the United States, Asia/Pacific, Europe, and internationally. The company’s Aeronautics Systems segment designs, develops, manufactures, integrates, and sustains aircraft systems. This segment also offers unmanned autonomous aircraft systems, including high-altitude long-endurance strategic ISR systems and vertical take-off and landing tactical ISR systems; and strategic long-range strike aircraft, tactical fighter and air dominance aircraft, and airborne battle management and command and control systems.